FRANCE. TFWA World Exhibition takes place this week on the French Riviera and The Moodie Davitt Report team is out in force to bring you news, views and plenty of compelling photos and videos.
Yes, the greatest travel retail show on Earth has rolled into Cannes and so has The Moodie Davitt Report team.
Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie, who has been attending the show since 1988 (he likes to say he was 12 at the time) and co-owner Dermot Davitt lead the team again, bolstered by an all-star squad of Matt Willey, Irene Revilla, Zhang Yimei, Sarah Genest, Hannah Tan-Gillies, Colleen Morgan, Mark Lane and Aran Turner.
We’ll be out and about at all the press conferences, launches, cocktails and forums. Look out for the team and please come up and say hello. Look out too for our blockbuster Cannes edition of The Moodie Davitt Report Magazine, jam-packed with quality editorial. ✈
THURSDAY, 5 OCTOBER
The TFWA World Exhibition closing press conference was staged this afternoon, with TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen addressing journalists. He expressed his satisfaction with the event, noting high levels of positive feedback he received on the exhibition floor.
He said: “I had not envisaged the level we would reach both in terms of delegates and exhibitors. We had more space covered by exhibitors than ever before in the 39 years of TFWA and I think that is quite an achievement.”
A record number of exhibitors – 450 – took space at the exhibition this year. Some 1,762 delegates attended the conference on Monday, the second-highest number of all time.
With delegates still entering the Palais de Festivals at the time of the press conference, we must wait until tomorrow to get the final visitor numbers. TFWA Managing Director John Rimmer said he was confident the number will be close to the record set in 2019, which was around the 7,500 mark.
Both Juul-Mortensen and Rimmer spoke out strongly against brands who have been exhibiting out of hotels in Cannes, condemning their actions and suggested that TFWA memberships could be revoked for repeat offences.
Juul-Mortensen – who promised some special events for TFWA’s 40th anniversary celebrations next year (though he wouldn’t be drawn on what they will be) – confirmed that next year’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference will return to Cannes on 29 September (and run until 3 October), with the Singapore edition of the event running from 12-16 May 2024.
The press conference ended with a round of applause for the departing Rimmer from the media and TFWA Board members. Juul-Mortensen said the process of finding Rimmer’s replacement is in progress.
Our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane joined French duty free association AFCOV (Association Française du Commerce du Voyageur) yesterday evening at the CBeach Plage Restaurant for an informal briefing on the trade body’s current priorities. These include the introduction of arrivals duty free and distancing the duty free industry from links with illicit trade.
Sharing updates were (pictured above left to right) AFCOV advisor Antoine Clément (Hume Brophy), AFCOV President and Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur Head of Commercial Candice Cadreils, AFCOV Treasurer and Lagardère Travel Retail France CEO & Regional COO, Middle East Vincent Romet and Chanel Area Director EMEA and AFCOV Board member Emmanuel Barc.
Clément said he believed confirmation of a pilot for arrivals duty free at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport could be “just a few months away”, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
WEDNESDAY, 4 OCTOBER
An important TFWA and Duty Free World Council workshop took place at the Majestic Hotel this morning, where the aims of the Duty Free: Trusted, Transparent, Secure campaign were highlighted. The initiative has gained the support of many of the travel retail industry’s leading retailers and brands.
In a passionate speech defending the industry, Duty Free World Council President Sarah Branquinho outlined the aims of the initiative, which seeks to distance duty free from links with illicit trade, counterfeiting and intellectual property.
Branquinho then joined a panel – moderated by TFWA Managing Director John Rimmer – of well-known industry travel retailer figures, who underlined the highly regulated nature of the duty free industry and their commitment to supporting the campaign.
The panel included Aer Rianta International Chief Operations and Business Development Officer Nuno Amaral; Qatar Duty Free Senior Vice President Thabet Musleh; Lagardère Travel Retail Chief Business Officer Lucio Rossetto, and Dubai Duty Free Senior Vice President – Retail Michael Schmidt.
TUESDAY, 3 OCTOBER
Carlos Loaiza-Keel, the new General Secretary of the South American duty free industry association ASUTIL, addressed a press conference at the TFWA World Exhibition this afternoon, giving his thoughts on the selection of Bogota, Columbia as the destination for the organisation’s conference next year.
This was Loaiza-Keel’s first public address since taking on his new role following the retirement of José Luis Donagaray, who served as ASUTIL Secretary General with distinction for 22 years.
He said: “Over the last decade, Bogota has undergone an impressive transformation, thanks to significant improvements in security and infrastructure.
“And when it comes to travel retail Bogota El Dorado International Airport is a regional benchmark for the travel retail industry – it is always evolving. Two heavyweight operators in the region – Dufry and Attenza – are key retailers at this airport.
“Hilton Corferias [in Bogota] is more than just a hotel for next year’s conference. It is a location for networking, the way we do it at ASUTIL. It’s all about sharing ideas and making connections.
“But this press conference isn’t just business. There is also an emotional side. It’s the first ASUTIL press conference since our long-time Secretary General, José Luis Donagaray, passed the torch to me.
“But don’t worry. He’s not riding off into the sunset, we won’t let him,” added Loaiza-Keel with a smile. “He will be there [in Bogota] as a special guest and his presence will remind us of the incredible work he’s done over the years.
“This conference is like a pit stop on ASUTIL’s journey. A chance to look back and see how far we’ve come. ASUTIL has a remarkable track record of bringing people together and making deals happen. And this conference will be no exception.
“We can’t wait to see you in Bogota and make the conference a resounding success.”
Speaking to our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane earlier today, Loaiza-Keel paid tribute to Donagaray: “José Luis is a key person for the duty free industry in Latin America and one of the main reasons why ASUTIL is in such good shape after so many years.
“But first and foremost, he is a generous friend, a dedicated and rigorous worker, and a person with principles. This explains the extraordinary development of ASUTIL over the years and the depth and quality of his ties with so many people in the industry.
“All of this will undoubtedly be missed, but he has built an extraordinary team, together with Mrs Silvia Gestal and Mr Diego de Freitas, whom I would like to acknowledge. This is also to José Luis’ credit. And we are certain that he will always be close by, supporting us at every step.”
Stay tuned to our channels for an extensive interview with Carlos Loaiza-Keel and a podcast with Jose Luis Donagaray, who gave us his reflections on the achievements of ASUTIL during his time as Secretary General and the reasons behind his decision to retire, among many other subjects.
Global management consultancy Kearney presented new data focusing on the challenges faced by the travel retail industry at the well-attended TFWA Airport Forum in the Majestic Hotel this morning.
Presenting at the event, Kearney Managing Partner and Chairman Alex Liu (pictured below) noted that slow recovery from the pandemic and the end of “revenge buying” has prompted a disconnect between price-centric models and new customer expectations.
Other notable data points taken from Kearney’s new report conducted for the Tax Free World Association, Travel retail faces its moment of truth: strategies to reinvigorate the marketplace, include that only 5-10% of travellers make impulse purchases at airports.
Some 64% of passengers say they are dissatisfied with travel retailer pricing or the assortment; and half of all air travellers are expected to be Gen Z and Millennials by 2050 – generations that focus more on the retail experience than they do on price.
In a panel session moderated by TFWA Managing Director John Rimmer, Liu was joined on stage by Fraport Twin Star Head of Commercial and Airports Council International’s Airports Non-Aeronautical Revenues and Activities (ANARA) working group coordinator Svetlana Simeonova; Dufry CEO Southern Europe Isabel Zarza; and London Heathrow Airport Retail Director Fraser Brown.
Each gave their thoughts on evolving approaches to passenger experience in the airport commercial environment, with subjects tackled including the sharing of data with airlines. The findings of recent ANARA research were also presented.
You can access the Kearney report in full here.
Vienna Airport (pictured below) staged an excellent dinner event for business partners and friends at the Annex Beach restaurant in Cannes last night. At the event, our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane caught up with the airport’s Senior Vice President Center Management Philipp Ahrens and Joint CEO Julian Jäger for an update on commercial performance at the Viennese travel hub.
Jäger reported a return to 2019 traffic levels in the year to date, driven by high numbers of southern European and Middle East travellers passing through the airport, the latter up +30% against the pre-pandemic year.
With passengers from the key German and Asia markets still significantly lagging behind 2019 numbers, Jäger said the recovery in those segments should help secure a record year for passengers in 2024.
On commercial performance in the year-to-date, Ahrens said: “We have had a very strong and solid year so far in terms of commercial revenues, far better than we actually expected. Spending levels are very encouraging and the prospects for next year are tremendous. With passenger levels rising quickly, we have work to do to satisfy the increasing demand we expect.
“I think we still have a bit of work to do when it comes to choices of speciality retail, which is very important as Asian traffic comes back. This is a gap we need to close.”
Jäger added: “What has surprised me [this year] is the very high level of spend from outgoing passengers, who are spending significantly more than they did pre-pandemic.
“We lost the Russian passengers who accounted for more than 10% of our overall sales in the duty free shops, Ukraine passengers are gone and China passengers at Vienna are obviously still lagging behind. With this in mind, it’s a great achievement to see our retail sales rise above the 2019 figures in 2023 to date.”
Exciting years lie ahead on the commercial front, both Jäger and Ahrens noted, with the Terminal 3 extension set to deliver 10,000 sq m of additional commercial space by 2027.
“This a game changer for us,” said Ahrens. “We will have Schengen and non Schengen passengers going through one commercial area in T3, which will potentially serve 11 million departing passengers.
“That will be a real new level for us at Vienna Airport; it’s something we are very excited about. Our big focus for the next two years is finding the right tenants to populate that additional commercial area.”
MONDAY, 2 OCTOBER
It was a matter both of adieu and bienvenu last night at Le Grand Banquet hosted by L’Oréal Travel Retail at the magnificent Château de La Napoule.
The event marks the final such occasion for General Manager for Travel Retail Worldwide Vincent Boinay, who, as reported, has been appointed President of the French beauty group’s North Asia Zone and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal China.
The appointment, effective from the end of January 2024, will see Boinay move to Shanghai and bring down the curtain on an outstanding eight-year tenure. Emmanuel Goulin, a familiar and highly regarded face in the channel, will become President of Travel Retail and join the Group’s Executive Committee at the beginning of 2024. Both men were present on stage last night in a poignant end of one era and the promising start of another.
Both men received prolonged applause on an evening that will live long into the memory of all present. As always, the event attracted the crème de la crème of the travel retailer community. Look out for fuller report next week.
We participated in an engaging International Beverage tasting event for its key travel retail brands, Old Pulteney single malt Scotch whisky and Caorrun Gin, this afternoon.
The tasting was led by International Beverage Brand Outreach Manager Lukasz Dynowiak and Global Key Account Manager Lesley Eadie, who gave a compelling overview on the provenance of the brands and their growth in travel retail.
In the image, Dynowiak discusses the botanicals used in Caorunn Gin with our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane. Five of them – heather, bog myrtle, rowan berry, dandelion and Coul Blush apple – were foraged close to the gin’s Balmenach distillery in the Scottish Highlands.
Read our recent in-depth article on the brands here.
Our Senior Business Editor Mark Lane discussed travel retail strategy with fast-growing wellbeing and beauty brand Rituals’ CEO Raymond Cloosterman.
Cloosterman revealed detailed expansion plans for the Asia market, where the company has already opened several stores in key Asian cities such as Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, with stores in central Tokyo soon to follow.
He said this will not divert attention from significant further expansion in travel retail, where Rituals now has more than 700 shop-in-shops, 20 standalone stores, ten airline partners and a presence in over 3,500 luxury boutique hotels.
Asia will in time also be a fertile ground for Rituals to grow in travel retail, predicted Cloosterman.
Two times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, Associate Editor of the The Washington Post and acclaimed as one of the best and most influential journalists of all time, is on stage participating in a fascinating political discussion with Stephen Sackur.
The third speaker of the morning, former White House political and trade advisor Dr Pippa Malmgren – founder of a number of businesses in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence – discussed how technology trends are impacting politics and business.
The BBC’s Stephen Sackur suggested to Malmgren that political leadership across the world currently has “a unique level of incompetence”. Advocating entrepreneurship, Malmgren replied: “We can’t wait for governments to solve our problems. We need to take responsibility to do it ourselves.”
TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen welcomes delegates to the TFWA Conference urging the industry to move beyond Trinity and embrace holistic change to meet the needs of the evolved travel retail landscape.
TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen welcomed delegates to the opening conference of the 2023 TFWA World Exhibition Conference. Juul-Mortensen shared his key insights on the current health of the industry, highlighting the main challenges and opportunities travel retail faces in the post-COVID world.
He said: “43% of airport workers worldwide left the industry. A combination of the loss of highly experienced staff and the move to hybrid working has made it difficult to recruit. Recovery is patchy – but airports in Europe are close to recovering to pre-pandemic levels.
“Asia is currently three-quarters of 2019 levels, but China’s recent expansion of authorised group travel will help recovery. Rising airfares and cost of living may dilute demand, but ACI World predicts that we will see 8.6 billion travellers this year, 94% of pre-pandemic levels.
Travellers are clearly returning but buying habits have evolved.
He added: “Our industry must transition from a one-size-fits-all approach to a segmented value proposition across four pillars: assortment, experience, services, price and promotion. We need to look beyond Trinity and also include media, digital and airlines.
“Is there a risk we are living in a bubble of self-congratulations?” Juul-Mortensen added. “The pandemic has seen a shift to travellers shopping and living more responsibly with a focus on truth and authenticity. We need to take heed and embed these values as individuals, companies and as one industry.”
SUNDAY, 1 OCTOBER
